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by yallneedtogetit 1384 days ago
Am I the only one who thinks this author is absolutely full of it?

Sorry, but he writes like an 8th grader. 99% of the sentences in this article could be popped into /r/iamverysmart.

Why would a group of 5 random billionaire preppers "trick" him into coming to talk about their elaborate doomsday compounds. They gain absolutely nothing by talking to this guy.

And why are they asking this random author "Should my compound have its own air supply?"

Sorry but I genuinely think this author just made this whole thing up, or is severely exaggerating what actually happened.

Do billionaires have preparation for global economic collapse or planetwide warfare, up to and including a security compound for them to flee to? Definitely.

Would they talk about it with this pseudointellectual, for absolutely no reason at all.. to ask him questions about their builds, or whether or not they should have their security guards wear collars? Absolutely not.

3 comments

> I genuinely think this author just made this whole thing up

I don't suspect that. But I do wonder how credible the story is; I've not come across Rushkoff before. His writeup in The Graun says he's a "writer and filmmaker on media, technology and popular culture", and teaches media studies. In the article he says he's also "written" a graphic novel.

So, he doesn't sound like a reporter, to me. I don't know to what extent he's using the story, whose truth isn't important to him, to make a social point.

Doesn't sound like you've bothered googling him. Read his wiki page[0]. This is literally stuff he's been writing about for close to 30 years. Of course you'd talk with him if you're a billionaire prepper.

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Rushkoff

From his bio in Wikipedia, amongst other things:

“Douglas Rushkoff has been declared the 6th most influential thinker in the world by MIT, only behind Steven Pinker, David Graeber, Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman, Thilo Sarrazin and Richard Florida.”

I guess that shows up my ignorance. I've only heard of one of those names, and (without googling) I don't know what he's known for.

Perhaps I just have some kind of allergic reaction to "public intellectuals".

Yep my thoughts too. He writes like a juvenile philosophy student who has attended one too many gender studies class. The insecurity and mediocrity seeps from every sentence.
> I genuinely think this author just made this whole thing up, or is severely exaggerating what actually happened.

Was my first thought as well. Seemed far too caricatured to be real, with the Patagonia vests and the questions about “Bitcoin vs. Ethereum”. It sounds like the author’s wishful idea of what so-called tech bros must be like.